


A Date (If You Want It To Be)

by fizzysugarwrites



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cole-centric, M/M, Sort of? - Freeform, basically they’re dweebs and it’s adorable, just some dudes vibin, no powers, ”dates”
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:06:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27030172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fizzysugarwrites/pseuds/fizzysugarwrites
Summary: Cole figured out four days ago that what he had on Jay was a big fat crush. And that kind of scared him. So what better way to solve the issue than to keep going on what may as well be dates with him???Sometimes, Cole isn’t very smart. Only sometimes.
Relationships: Cole/Jay Walker
Comments: 8
Kudos: 53





	A Date (If You Want It To Be)

**Author's Note:**

> This is just me goofing around djdjdjdj hope ya like it

Cole was starting to think this was a bad idea the moment Jay showed up to that restaurant looking snazzier than he’d ever seen the boy before. He looked fuckin  _ gorgeous  _ in that shirt, and- was that a fucking bowtie??? Man, only Jay could pull off a bowtie like that. Who the hell allowed him to be that fuckin-

_ WE ARE TRYING TO GET  _ **_RID_ ** _ OF THE CRUSH! STOP THINKING ABOUT HOW HOT HE IS! _

Cole suddenly squared his shoulders and pulled himself out of his own head as Jay popped up at his side, a lopsided smile already on his face. He whistled at Cole, and nudged his shoulder lightly, forcing Cole to let both shoulders slack again.   
“Lookin’ sharp, boulderbrain! Glad to see I didn’t, heh, overdress or nothin.” Jay shrugged to himself, and Cole managed to keep his wits and make a dismissive hand gesture.

“Pshaw, it’s Fancy Friday, the only way you could  _ over _ dress is if you wore like... full plate armor or something.” That elicited a crackling giggle from Jay, and once again Cole barely managed to keep his wits after all that.  _ Sheesh. This is going to be hard, huh. _

* * *

It had been approximately four days since Cole had finally figured out his complex feelings on Jay. He knew they had always gone beyond “just friends” but the exact motivations behind Cole’s own feelings were still fuzzy until four nights ago, whilst the two of them were sucked into a  _ Fritz Donnegan  _ marathon. It had been Jay’s idea to take advantage of their garbage sleep schedules for the chance for Cole to get a better glimpse at Jay’s favorite show. They both were wide-awake around the same timeframe, too, so it wouldn’t be so hard to get them both up out of bed.

So Jay had rousted him on that agreed night, and they had tiptoed out of bed to the living room, and one thing led into another and then they were practically cuddling on the couch by episode seven. It was a comforting sort of silence they had together, Jay practically sprawled out in Cole’s lap as his arms wrapped around him.

It had all felt normal until Jay had fallen asleep there and accidentally paused the show.

_ “Jay?”  _ Cole had asked softly.  _ “Jay, I think you-“ _

And then he’d looked down at Jay’s face, soft and peaceful in the dim TV light, and something had clicked. About everything. About the way Jay felt, cozied up in his arms, and about the way Cole felt himself. Never wanting to let him go.

It had clicked for him then, that all the feelings he harbored for Jay Walker went beyond just being his best friend. All the things he had noticed about Jay, weren’t just things you noticed about your best friend. Like how his hair smelled like bubblegum, because he still used kids shampoo because “it smells better!” than the usual kind.

Or how when Jay laughed too hard, the tips of his lightly freckled ears went red.

Or how soft his hands were.

The hands thing might’ve been what really cinched it for Cole, in hindsight. He was thoroughly, completely in love with Jay Walker. And that fact... sort of scared him.

He wasn’t sure if he was ready to take that kind of risky step forward with Jay, so in the moment, he’d just shoved down his feelings, prodded Jay in the cheek (much to Jay’s complaint) and gotten back on with the marathon.

But it had never truly gone away. Cole started to notice small touches they’d share a lot more than usual. How Jay’s instinct was to loop their arms together when they were just walking, how he’d shove himself under Cole’s arm if he couldn’t see around him. It was… adorable, frankly, and it only deepened Cole’s crush.

And then came their little outings, which may as well have been dates in disguise this whole time. I mean, Fancy Friday? When they go out  _ together  _ in  _ nice clothes  _ to a  _ nice restaurant? _ It was overwhelming, now that Cole was aware of himself.

So the goal tonight was to try and let this crush thing fade, and not ruin his friendship with his best friend. Hard as it may be to get rid of a crush, he had to do it. For Jay.

* * *

And that led to here. And now. Sitting across from Jay in a moody-lit restaurant, trying to think of something to talk about besides his feelings.

Jay had already finished two little glasses of water and was in the middle of pouring his third. “Imma be honest with ya, I uh… forgot to drink any water this afternoon,” he said sheepishly, before downing the third.

That comment caught Cole off-guard and he set his glass down, then looked at Jay disapprovingly. “Jay…”

“I know, I know! I just got caught up in the workshop, is all. Workin’ on a new project.” Jay tucked some of his ginger curls behind his ear. He was kind of cute when he was embarrassed.

“Oh?” Cole prompted, tilting his head. “Well don’t just leave me hangin’! Tell me more.” He leaned on his hand and smiled goofily at Jay, who snickered and flashed a sheepish grin. Truth be told, Cole just enjoyed listening to Jay talk passionately about his work. It was endearing, listening to him go on and on about something Cole maybe already knew about. He was adorable when he got excited and amped up about something. Adorable… 

_ We are here to get  _ **_rid_ ** _ of the crush. Can you please chill with the lovebug talk. I swear to gods. _

“Ha, well, I can’t actually tell you more,” Jay admitted goofily. “Because it’s technically a surprise!”

“A surprise?” Cole echoed. “For who? Me?” He put his hand on his chest incredulously, which Jay reacted to with a snort.

“Yeah, you! Ya dork.” He reached over the table and poked him in the arm. “Didja seriously forget your own birthday?”

To that, Cole turned a bit flushed and glanced away. “Nnnoooo…” he mumbled. He expected Jay to keep teasing him on that little embarrassing tidbit, but the other just cracked what might’ve been his most heart-melting smile back at Cole. Which only served to deepen the blush on his cheeks.

“D’aww,” Jay cooed at him. Sheesh, Cole’s face was really hot right now.

“Don’t you d’aww me,” he scolded in mock-indignance, in an attempt to hide his flustered expression. Jay just let out another one of those crackly giggles and poked his arm again.

Thankfully, the waiter arrived just at that moment, and saved Cole from further flustering. They both ordered, and Jay got the shirley temple he offhandedly mentioned he’d been craving. The slight awkward silence came around again, and Cole just sipped his soda, trying not to notice the way Jay’s freckles seemed to multiply when he was happy. Or how the contented smile on Jay’s face made Cole melt inside. He was still trying, very hard, to shove it all down, but it clearly wasn’t going well, because Jay was still constantly at the forefront of his thoughts. 

That was starting to concern Cole.

Jay glanced up from his drink at some point in the midst of their silence. “So… how’d your day go? See anything pretty today?”

“You,” Cole responded, still stuck in his own head. Jay’s eyebrows shot up and the tips of his ears went a bit red. Cole’s mind returned to him after that and he sputtered. “NICYCLE. I saw a, uh, guy on a unicycle, and it had a really cool paint job. Uh.”

Jay tilted his head and smirked at Cole dorkily, which made Cole’s shoulders hunch and his face flush once again! Fantastic. He’d caught on to Cole’s slip-up. “No, you said ‘you’. As in me.” He put his hands on his hips, stil in his sitting position. “What, Brookstone? Ya think I’m pretty~?” He flashed another stupid cute smile and Cole hunched his shoulders more.  _ Yes I do! A lot!  _ His mind reminded him, unhelpfully.

“No! I mean- you’re not  _ not  _ pretty, I just-” Cole ran both hands through his hair and groaned, and that was all the answer needed. Jay tried to hide his little dorky grin under his hand. Cole put his face in his hands and peered at Jay through his fingers, noticing that the fellow was tinged pink all over.  _ Stop being so cute or I am GOING to die, Walker. _

“Hey, you’re pretty too, dude,” Jay retorted good-naturedly. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

_ I’m not selling myself short, I’m just in love with you,  _ Cole thought quietly, but sighed and took his hands off his face. For another short moment, Jay was just smiling at him. And despite how frustrated he was with his feelings, Cole returned the smile in earnest.

Their food came around, and the rest of the evening went by sort of relaxingly. Cole let himself stop worrying about his feelings for a bit. And tried to just enjoy the evening. With Jay.

* * *

Later on, as they left the restaurant, the sky was just tinting orange from the sunset. Then they started to meander through the park nearby, as they usually did. Cole was acutely aware of the romantic vibes all of this had, and it did  _ not _ help when Jay just… casually took Cole’s hand as they walked. When Cole gave him a questioning look, Jay just smiled at him. Which made Cole’s stomach do a flip into his heart.  _ WHO allowed him to be that cute! What the hell! _

Jay pressed up shoulder-to-shoulder with Cole as they walked, still hand in hand. Then Jay spoke up. “So… I have a lil question for ya.”

“Fire away, sparky,” Cole responded, hand stiffening slightly when Jay rubbed his thumb over it. He glanced over to Jay, meeting his gleaming green eyes. The soft smile on his face made Cole hesitate, but somehow keep walking. Jay didn’t respond, for a slight stretch of time as they walked along, coming upon their usual bench.

“Is this a date?”

Cole stiffened again, without really meaning to. His face went red again, in plain view of Jay. Jay went red too. Then they both looked away, startled by each other’s reactions. They stopped in front of the bench. Cole clenched his jaw.  _ Is it a date? I… I want it to be. A lot. Sheesh, this really didn’t help me quell my crush AT ALL huh. This was a dumb idea. Does… does  _ **_he_ ** _ want it to be? _

Eventually, Cole spoke up again, lightly squeezing Jay’s hand. “It… it is if you want it to be.” He then took a step back, a retreat of sorts, plopping onto the bench. Inadvertently, he pulled Jay off-balance and sent the boy sprawling with a slight shout _onto_ Cole on the bench. Which just served to deepen both their blushes as Cole’s heart leapt into his chest.

“Sorry!” They both exclaimed at the same time, then Jay tried frantically to crawl off of Cole’s lap and onto the bench next to him. Once he did, there was another long beat of awkward silence. The only sound was the crackling of the toaster in the toasted-nut seller’s cart behind them. Jay had his hands folded in his lap, face still burning red as far as Cole could see. The question Cole wanted to ask stood at the forefront of his mind.  _ If I don’t ask now I am never going to ask, and I am just going to sit here and never say anything and just fall in love with him more every day. I have to ask now. ASK NOW! _

“Do you want it to be a date?” Cole spoke up, glancing back at Jay, his expression slowly filling with hope. Jay was still trying to look away, so Cole reached out and tentatively put a hand over Jay’s folded hands. “B-because I uh… I-I do.” Jay whipped his head around, expression starry-eyed and sort of in disbelief, and that sort of spurred Cole on to blurt “I know this is kind of out of nowhere but I-I think I’m in love with you.”

Both went silent for a long moment again. Jay was staring at Cole, staring like he’d just kicked open the sky and revealed every star to him. For a brief second, Cole was afraid he’d broken him.

And then the most dazzling, heartfelt smile spread across Jay’s face and he  _ nodded  _ and Cole wasn’t even sure how a  _ nod  _ could make him feel so  _ fantastic  _ but at this point he didn’t care. Without warning Jay threw his hands up and flung his arms around Cole’s neck and just  _ kissed him then and there. _

It was exhilarating. Cole’s arms reflexively pulled back as Jay fell against his chest, and Cole blinked for a second as he tried to convince himself that this was in fact happening. Jay’s eyes were shut as he kissed Cole with everything he had, and that may have been what convinced him. Tentatively, Cole wound his arms around Jay’s waist and leaned into the kiss slowly, so as not to topple the other over the arm of the bench. And he found himself melting. Cole put a hand in Jay’s messy hair and found that he never wanted to let him go.

When they finally pulled away, Cole let his hand fall from Jay’s hair, and a warm smile cracked on his lips. Jay still had his arms around his neck, and still had a sort of giddy grin as he mumbled “I  _ know  _ I’m in love with you.”

Cole felt lighter than air after all that, and he just pulled Jay into a cozy hug as the sun began to set below the horizon. He was in love, irrefutably in love, and he felt fantastic.

* * *

The pair of them got back to their apartment an hour or so later, and found themselves all giggly as they walked in. Cole felt so at home with his hand in Jay’s all night, it was unreal. Jay was unreal.

The common space was quiet enough, save for the tapping of typing from Zane in the corner on his laptop. Cole took a moment to step around in front of Jay, and lean down quick enough to peck him on the cheek.

“Hey,” Cole drolled quietly to him.

“Hey yourself, babe,” Jay quipped back, turning his head to catch the kiss on the corner of his mouth instead. Cole snorted, feeling himself just go red again.  _ Gods I’m a mess. The biggest mess. _ Jay cackled a bit, which caused Zane’s typing to stop. Jay reached with his free hand and booped Cole on the nose.

“You… are adorable when you’re flustered,” Jay commented, playing with Cole’s hand.

“No U,” Cole responded goofily, dropping Jay’s hand in favor of wrapping both arms around him and lifting his feet off the floor, eliciting a surprised yelp that turned into more of that crackly laughter Cole adored. 

At this point in time, Zane had shut his laptop and moved into a more plain view, quirking an eyebrow at the two of them. And Kai was here too. Inexplicably. “So I take it Fancy Friday went well, loverboys?” Kai crooned from the table, emanating full >:3 vibes.

Cole set Jay down with a slight start, but relaxed after a moment.  _ Of course the  _ **_real_ ** _ loverboy figured out our deal before we did. _ He casually draped his arm around Jay’s shoulders, and Jay let his own arm fall around Cole’s waist. “Sure did. What about it?”

Kai put up his hands, still smirking. “Nothin, just glad that roastytoasty311 got to finally see whether or not you two were a thing.” He tucked his phone back in his pocket and walked away, like he’d shown up to the common space specifically to make that vague statement.

Cole glanced at Jay. Jay glanced back. Then they both shouted the least-expected sentence to be said on the same day that they became an item.

“THE TOASTED NUTS GUY???”

And Kai’s cackling was heard throughout the building.


End file.
